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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23225938">Return</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebulera/pseuds/nebulera'>nebulera</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Zygerria Arc, yellow saber</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:48:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,770</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23225938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebulera/pseuds/nebulera</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Maul finds out what the Zygerrians did to Obi Wan.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>283</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Return</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The chaotic ambiance of Coruscant at this time of night is both unsettling in Maul’s vision and hearing. It’s a wonder the Temple, the quintessence of peace and quiet meditation that refined the mind and soul, was located in such an unpleasantly loud, urban city, dirty down to the ground people walked upon. Overpopulated and crime-ridden were these streets; here, he could find the very filth the Jedi preferred to isolate themselves from in their little shrine. Despite living next door to it, many are still blind to the corruption embedded in the dirt. But it was with this chaos, that Maul finds himself leaping these rooftops and blending in against the dark orange and purple sky. He flies past zooming speeders, the blinding lights of the city flashing across his skin, his eyes shining as he designates his course for the one place in the world he should never be again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could stand to be here, on Coruscant, until Obi Wan returned. It was brief moments ago when a sensation built in his gut and rose to his throat, extended to his hands, his entire body, that he knew Obi Wan was back on-world. The Force displayed that familiar warmth within his core when it came to the Jedi. Tonight, however, he couldn’t ignore trembling fingers that did not belong to him, nor the absolute anguish in his bones, born from sparkling heat. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Obi Wan,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he’d said aloud to no one but himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>In the years he’d been close to Obi Wan, this Temple was the one place he could never go back again, yet it remained, for the longest time, their meeting place. He leaps off the same roof he always has, his cybernetics landing him softly, right before the building. With a twist of a hand, he lifts the familiar grate, hidden by an eternal bush, off the ground. He mentally shields himself before he dips down through the hole in the ground. The hidden tunnel extends for miles underneath Coruscant, technically barely breaching the Temple itself. It is wide enough for Maul’s figure to fit, but short enough that he must crawl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Getting inside was the easy part. It was navigating the rest of the Temple that proved life of death, but he usually managed. Even now, he has an unnerved feeling that controls his movement. He always values patience above all else; in battle, in negotiations, or Obi Wan himself. However, he indulges his weakness even if it would be to his detriment. The pain inflicted upon Obi Wan leaves Maul’s chest a burning flame. His scrambling to see his hurt Jedi pushed him onward, but leaves him stunned and unprepared when he drops down from a ceiling vent directly in front of a clone trooper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He goes completely stiff, notes his saber at his side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The clone trooper, however, doesn’t visibly acknowledge him despite looking directly at him. His armor is not the standard white kind, and has been tainted, bruised, and colored blue almost all over, tallys marking the gauntlets and bucket. It’s impossible to read his face, yet Maul slowly realizes what is happening and stares down the trooper through his visor</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He said you would be here,” the clone says and it all falls into place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take me to him,” Maul replies quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Captain Rex maneuvers Maul around one of the most important and heavily guarded Temples in all the galaxy, all the way to the foot of Obi Wan’s resting bed in the healing halls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul’s eyes grow from cautious to horrified, as he slowly takes off his hood to reveal the sight before him. Upon seeing Maul, his worried expression combined with a mynute, yet simmering anger in his trembling lip, Obi Wan simply says “I’m all right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul’s frown deepens at the words. He notes everything as he pulls a chair to sit beside the battered Jedi. He has bacta patches littered across his bare shoulders and arms. His face is a bruised and purple mess. Maul has seen him injured before, yes, but to this extent, no. It is nearly impossible for Maul to put words to it. Maul has to stop his hands from shaking, from fear or anger he was not sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rex makes himself scarce once Maul reaches for Obi Wan’s patched up hand, and secretly thanks the clone trooper for allowing their privacy at this time. He rests his elbow upon the bed, gripping Obi Wan’s hand between his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now is when you tell me what happened,” Maul says quietly, his gaze focused intensely on Obi Wan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We found the Togruta colonists. They are all back home and safe,” Obi Wan answers, even though that isn’t what Maul cares to hear right now. Obi Wan seems to notice this and pointedly ignores it. “They were being held by the Zygerrians.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul’s breath falters. “Those slavers did this to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi Wan nods. Maul is confused. The Zygerrians were more technologically advanced than most previous or current slave empires, sure. They were even intelligent beings, save for their moronic traditions. But all of that is insignificant when it came to Obi Wan. The Jedi could have fought them blinded with an arm tied behind his back, and he wouldn’t have half the markings he currently bears. He does not ask why, however, because he knows why. Obi Wan’s compassion simply had no limit. “I had no choice but to submit to them,” he says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul finds himself sitting there without anything to say. He’s intently focused on his beloved, but can’t ignore a building feeling in his chest, a swirl of dark seeping into intense red. It runs deep, a building flame ignited by something his body hasn’t utilized for so long. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hate. </span>
  </em>
  <span>His frown grows and he shuts his eyes, pressing his forehead against Obi Wan’s hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is useless to hide against Obi Wan as much as he tries. Obi Wan’s other hand comes down on top of his head, smoothing against his horns, then his temple. “Hey. Enough of that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul doesn’t move or react. He can’t stop. He is already planning everything in his mind. He only hopes Obi Wan can’t sense it more than he already has.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maul, please. I would like to lay down at some point tonight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That snaps Maul’s eyes open. He drops Obi Wan’s hand, meets the man’s weary gaze for an eternity before he rises to his feet. “All right,” he says, and makes to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I meant with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul raises a brow. “Skywalker — ”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anakin came and went hours ago. I made a point to be left alone by the healers, and if I know Rex, he’s likely barred that door shut somehow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul looks down at his hands. They are still trembling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crawling into bed with Obi Wan was likely the most pleasant thing he has done all week or will continue to do. They turn on their sides with Maul curled around his back, minding the bacta patches, his cybernetics jutting into the back of Obi Wan’s knees. Maul’s arm that isn’t pressed against the Jedi's back is wrapped around Obi Wan’s middle, their hands tangled together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At some point when Maul shifts, Obi Wan flinches. He mutters a soft apology, kissing the back of his neck. Obi Wan starts to tremble, not just from his back pain, but all over his body. Maul curls more firmly around Obi Wan, running his thumb across the other man’s hand. A distant part of him is sorry, for something so beyond his control. Most Jedi cannot heal themselves, so far be it a former-Sith could take on that challenge. He does know, however, that Obi Wan could at least be able to block pain. Maul would know, from the dozens of times he trembled in painful silences in Obi Wan’s arms as the Jedi would wordlessly take his pain away. It took skill and patience in a Jedi.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is when Maul is pondering the extent that he would be able to block his love’s pain, that he realizes just what the patches on Obi Wan’s back are for, and closes his eyes in muted fury.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Getting to Zygerria proved expensive and difficult, but once Maul stepped out of the ship and onto the godforsaken planet, there was nothing stopping him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Captain Rex had not held back when telling him what both he and Obi Wan experienced at the hands of the slavers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever they did to me, he got it twice as worse,” said the Captain. Obi Wan had been tortured, beaten, starved, and whipped. Whenever he tried to fight back, they would threaten the lives of the colonists. Even compliance brought him punishment. They’d tried to break him not just physically, but mentally. To both Maul’s pleasure and disappointment, Rex had killed the slave master at Kadavo himself, and the 104th had destroyed the entire facility. Every single guard and master there had been blown to hell in a glorious fiery oblivion. The Jedi Order could interfere no more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The captain had given him some names, coordinates, and then he was done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zygerria’s beauty shines even at this time of night, but there was no denying the ugliness of the capital city. Images and cries of suffering flooded his senses. Hood draped over his head, Maul makes his way through the urban market center, the palace his main goal. One piece of filth dares to touch him, roughly placing a hand on his shoulder, his other hand holding onto a chain undeniably attached to a child. In seconds, the slaver is on the ground, crying out in agony, arms broken in wonderful angles. Maul continues on, as do the remaining restive scum surrounding him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prime Minister Atai Molec sits sprawled across the throne of the dead queen when Maul steps through the doors of the great hall. The guards barely have seconds to light their whips before Maul blocks their air with the close of a fist. Before they drop dead, one of his servants screams and she drops the drink she was serving him and runs off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Atai being somewhat drunk is a disappointment. Maul would have liked the slaver to be sober for when Maul tears him limb from limb.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You — how did you sneak past my security?” Atai asks stupidly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t.” It was the truth. He did not try to hide himself upon entering the palace. Every guard who tried to stop him, he took down with ease.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose I should ask what you are here for,” the prime minister says with a groan as he sits up, his elbows braced on either arm rest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t care to answer.” Maul ascends the steps towards the throne.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Atai fumbles for a communicator, presses random buttons. Maul could have stopped him, but he didn’t care. He is going to get what he came for regardless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve alerted whoever else is left. They are heading here as we speak. It would be wise to turn around now.” The fear exuding from the slaver is palpable. Maul relishes in it. His lip twitches up in a smirk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He reaches under his robe to grab and reveal his saberstaff. Atai goes still. Maul ignites one blade and a luminous gold lights up the dark throne room.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Jedi,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Atai spits. “I am not afraid of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul ignites the other blade, a beautiful bright yellow. “You’ll wish I was.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The guards flooding the room to protect their dead prime minister poses no real threat to Maul, but that doesn’t stop him. He slaughters every single one that carries a whip, and chokes anyone who does not fall victim to his blade. He leaves the throne room a shell of what it once was, and feels not an ounce of regret.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Upon arriving to Coruscant, he meets with Rex once more and through some string pulling, the captain gets him into the Republic prison, so he can meet face to face with the only other person on his list.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul chooses not to grant the man an answer. Darts D’Nar, Zygerrian scum, the only identifiable person that put his hands on Obi Wan, is currently protected behind a Republic ray shield. Maul can do nothing to touch him directly. He saved him for last for this exactly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hope you understand,” Maul begins slowly, “that not a day will go by that you’ll not suffer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You will be the devil on my shoulder? You look the part.” D’Nar chuckles and Maul wishes for nothing than to run him through. “You can’t touch me. And even if I don’t make it out of here — which I will — I’m protected. I still have rights.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not from me,” Maul says, raising his hand and tightening his fist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>D’Nar’s hand claws at the invisible vice blocking his air as he rises slowly from the ground. “Making it out of here won’t help you,” Maul utters. His hand tenses stiffly. “Every day that you are in here, every day that you are out there, I will know, and I will stop at nothing to ensure that you suffer endlessly until you can’t take it anymore, until you drown in fear, and beg for me to put you out of your wretched misery and end your deplorable life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He drops the slaver, who gasps for breath in choked sobs and slides against the ground until he is backed away from the ray shield as far as possible, his eyes wide with terror.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul tilts his head. “Do we have an understanding?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maul doesn’t return to the Temple that night, goes to his home instead. He sends Obi Wan a brief message to let him know, prepared to see him tomorrow if possible. Upon entering however, he is met with the calm Jedi sitting on his poor excuse for a couch, meditating, although he stops once Maul pulls back his hood and closes the front door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They don’t speak for what feels like an eternity. Obi Wan stands, not breaking eye contact, and walks across the room, stands right before Maul. He searches his eyes, a frown upon his face, though it is not one of discontent, at least not with Maul, and it is here that Maul </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows </span>
  </em>
  <span>that he knows. He isn’t exactly sure what Obi Wan is thinking, but he is fully prepared for the Jedi to walk right past him and out the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul would let him, but he couldn’t apologize, not for what he did, nor for his lack of guilt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s when Obi Wan’s eyes drop and when he reaches for one of Maul’s hands at his side, just to hold, that Maul reaches up to caress Obi Wan’s cheek. He appears to be mostly healed, his face no longer as colorful as it once was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi Wan then tugs the hand he was holding and reaches to grasp Maul’s hand on his face. He holds them cupped together between his own. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He meets Maul’s gaze, a final, unspoken understanding there, pretending they’ve spoken about it without saying a single word. “I’m rather tired. Would you lie down with me again?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul nods. “Of course,” he says, finally trusting his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi Wan smiles softly and leans forward to kiss Maul. He reaches around Maul’s back to hug him from the side and rests his right hand on the Zabrak’s hip. Maul follows suit and reaches behind Obi Wan’s back to rest his left hand on his shoulder, the other man reaching up to grip it. They walk to bed this way, silent and loved.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Obi Wan wakes again, trembling. “Nightmare,” he whispers against Maul’s chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re all right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul can feel it though, can feel the little spikes of pain that remain from Obi Wan’s wounds. If the nightmare hadn’t woken him up then the pain surely would have.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hate for the Zygerrians remains, but for Obi Wan now, in this moment, that isn’t what he needs. Maul closes his eyes, hones in on the Force and focuses his hold on Obi Wan. The warmth of his love flows through him, then Obi Wan, and continues as they drift off back to sleep, the ambiance of Coruscant outside an echo in their brains. Now, they are away from the grime of this place, the Order, the Sith, all of it. Maul thinks distantly, maybe one day, as the feeling of his Obi Wan breathing against his chest puts him back to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That night, Obi Wan sleeps soundly, without an ounce of pain.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yay or nay</p><p>This is an AU where Maul was taken prisoner after the battle on Theed and escaped, but not before growing close to Obi Wan. What a way for Obi Wan to break the code lmao.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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